Incensed

"Unbelievable.  

They sit me here while they eat sourdough pancakes after church on Sunday 

and they don't give me a single bite."

"Child abuse!  This is child abuse, I tell you!"

Doesn't It Just Make You Want to Smooch Their Grubby Little Faces?

Exploration

Whether or not it's all new to you...

...every little bit is worth deep exploration.

Fabric of Boys

"Hey, Mom!  How's it goin'?"

"Huh? What's that you say?"

"Why... I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Bath?  No, thanks, none for me.  I've got stuff to do.  See ya, Ma."

Summer Perch

Every boy...

 ...should have a tree.

In Which I Resolve to Do Better

How long has it been?  Ten days?  Too long.  Bad blogger-wanna-be, bad!

The days roll by so fast. Every day I open my eyes and wonder how it can be another morning already.  I peek tentatively at the squwaky baby standing in his crib, watching for a glimpse of me, the center of the Universe As He Knows It.  I know better than to move or otherwise draw attention to myself.  To do so would elicit excited screams from that baby over there, and my ears just aren't ready for screaming yet today.

I should be so happy-- the sun shines every day (though I admit to praying daily for rain for the sake of my already parched garden), and there are no mosquitos nor sticky heat yet to torment us.  But I feel like I can't quite enjoy it.  I must not sit still.  If I do, I'm sure the universe will unwind or something equally terrible.  Besides, if I sit still, someone screams at me.

It seems that I am just consumed with fatigue and frustration and endless monotony.  That doesn't end.  Ever.   The same fights, the same work, the same struggles, the same screams. 

It would be nice to use my blog to work through the bilge-water swirling around in my head, but for some reason, I just can't.  I guess I just don't want to take the time to write about it, and besides, it'd just be the same.

But!  Sometimes I take photos.  Photos require little cognitive effort (though my pokey computer and dragging internet connection do add to the frustration level).  My blog may suffer from this (seemingly endless) dry spell, but it needn't dry up all together.  I can pour the occasional bucket of runoff rainwater here, just like I do for the withering seedlings in my poor garden.

So, all that to say that I hereby resolve to at least post some photos from time to time.  Summer will be busy, that's just the way of it.  But perhaps I can take a little time to water my blog with the runoff of life.

And if you don't hear from me, be sure to check my camera.  Perhaps I snapped some photos of the laundry pile as it engulfed and consumed me.

What My Children Gave Me for Mother's Day

*Ear-rings-- The screaming and crying makes my ears ring.

*Flo[u]wer-- All over the kitchen floor.

*A bath-- of slobber and spit-up.

*Jewlery-- that needs fixing because the baby broke my necklace again.

*A heart[attack]-- I fell asleep nursing Andrew at 3:30am.  At 5:00am I woke up trying to figure out why my baby was crying from the floor on the other side of the bed.  (Aaaaand the Mother of the Year award goes to...)

*[un]Dress-- because the baby (or toddler) needs to nurse.

~~~


But mainly, they give me thankfulness!  Thankfulness because I am so blessed and I wouldn't have it any other way! 

This is the life.

And I love you
A bushel and a peck,
A bushel and a peck and you make my life a wreck!
You make my life a wreck and you make my life a mess!
You make my life a mess, a mess of happiness...

He's Seven...

Jonah turned 7, minus one tooth, which makes his birthday picture extra adorable.

For his cake, he requested "an army of Romans".  (We've been reading about ancient Rome, you see, and he likes war and battle and all things similarly manly.)  I said, "Uh.... eh... no."  So we settled on a Roman shield, or the closest approximation that I could make with cake and frosting.  I somehow forgot to take a closeup photo of the cake, oops, but I assure you it looked exactly like a Roman shield.

See, I know just what they look like because Jonah recently made a couple.

A blue one for himself...

...and a smaller orange shield for Evan.

And they do have fun together.

Anyway.  Back to the birthday. 

Jonah had the privilege this year of spending his birthday with numerous cousins and aunts and uncles and a Grandma and Grandpa, too.  We were in Minnesota for our get-together with Nathan's family.

Jonah is reported to have actually requested his birthday spankings from his Opa (Grandpa).  He's growing up, I guess, and is willing to do what it takes.

Everyone laughed when he unwrapped a tea steepin' cup that he had been begging me for.  For a seven-year-old? Really?  Hey, fine tea is a big deal in our house.

Among other things, he received swords.  (Appropriate, no?)    This might have been the most swashbuckling birthday I've ever been to.

And I'm not just talking about the kids.

It's good to have uncles and cousins to (sword)fight with on your birthday, don't you think?